Archive By Section - State, National

ATLANTA - The 2010 race for Georgia's attorney general is attracting almost as many candidates as the governor's contest - and for good reason. There hasn't been an open seat in the election for the state's top lawyer in more than 60 years.

That explains why what is normally considered a down-ticket race is already becoming one of the most hotly contested campaigns.

SAVANNAH - Attorneys for one of the nation's largest sugar producers accused a whistleblower Monday of faking a report that he says he sent to company executives warning them of the dust hazard at a Georgia refinery days before a blast there killed 14 workers.

Lawyers defending Imperial Sugar in more than 30 lawsuits filed a motion in Chatham County State Court asking a judge to throw out the report and all testimony by Graham H. Graham because he "knowingly provided false testimony." Graham was vice president of operations at the Texas company at the time of the explosion.

ATLANTA - The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says a state firearms examiner has resigned over faulty testing and dozens of criminal cases in the state could be in jeopardy.

GBI spokesman John Bankhead says Bernadette Davy admitted to not fully testing guns. She could not be reached for comment Monday after GBI announced she had resigned April 1. She had been an examiner since 1991.

ATLANTA - Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle fought back tears Wednesday as he reluctantly dropped out of the race for governor, saying he has a degenerative spine condition that will require surgery.

The surprise announcement immediately scrambled the crowded contest to replace Gov. Sonny Perdue when his second term expires in 2010. Cagle was considered a front-runner for the Republican nomination with the primary still more than one year away. The 43-year-old Republican from Gainesville said he will seek re-election as lieutenant governor.

RALEIGH, N.C. - The 2009 hurricane season will be less active than last year's flurry of storms, and there's less than a 50 percent chance that a hurricane will hit the southeastern U.S., a researcher said Thursday.

On the Gulf Coast, however, there is a 70 percent chance a hurricane will make landfall.

ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia lawmakers rushed to consider vast changes to the state's transportation network and a series of sweeping new tax plans as they faced the tightest of political deadlines on Friday, the chaotic last day of the legislative session.

The Georgia Legislature's sole obligation during the 40-day legislative session is to pass the $18.6 billion spending plan, which would make deep spending cuts amid the lagging economy.